KONKOLA COPPER MINES PLC

Zambia’s largest integrated copper producer

KCM is Zambia’s largest integrated copper producer, with an entire production value chain comprising of open pit and underground mines, concentrators, a state-of-the-art smelter, a tailings leach plant and a refinery. It is the only mining company in the country that has operations in four locations, including Chingola, Chililabombwe, Nampundwe and Kitwe, playing a key role in the communities around these mining areas.

Mining

KCM has open pit and underground mines at Nchanga and Konkola. The largest of the mine assets, Konkola, is the most northerly of the Copperbelt mines and is located 26 kilometres from Chingola. The mine has three operating shafts – Shaft No. 4, Shaft No. 3 and Shaft No. 1. Sinking of the No. 4 Shaft reached its desired depth of 1,500 metres in 2012. The mid-shaft loading was completed in April 2010 and bottom shaft loading was commissioned in 2012.

KCM Contact Details

Processing

The company has three concentrators, two at Nchanga and one at Konkola. The two Nchanga concentrators (East mill and West mill) were recently modernized. A new concentrator was commissioned at Konkola in 2008.

The Nchanga smelter was commissioned in 2008, incorporating technology from Outotec, Finland. The smelter processes ore from Konkola, Nchanga and other third party concentrates and it has a capacity of 311,000t pa. The smelter has met global benchmark environmental performance as it captures 99.6% of sulphur emissions. The main refinery at Nkana uses electrolysis to process copper anodes to LME A grade copper cathodes. It has been expanded to accommodate the increased anode production from the Nchanga smelter.

The Nchanga Tailings Leach Plant (TLP), one of the largest of its kind in the world, processes tailings from the Nchanga concentrators…

Processing

The company has three concentrators, two at Nchanga and one at Konkola. The two Nchanga concentrators (East mill and West mill) were recently modernized. A new concentrator was commissioned at Konkola in 2008.

The Nchanga smelter was commissioned in 2008, incorporating technology from Outotec, Finland. The smelter processes ore from Konkola, Nchanga and other third party concentrates and it has a capacity of 311,000t pa. The smelter has met global benchmark environmental performance as it captures 99.6% of sulphur emissions. The main refinery at Nkana uses electrolysis to process copper anodes to LME A grade copper cathodes. It has been expanded to accommodate the increased anode production from the Nchanga smelter.

The Nchanga Tailings Leach Plant (TLP), one of the largest of its kind in the world, processes tailings from the Nchanga concentrators and stockpiled tailings to produce copper. The TLP extracts copper directly to cathodes from concentrate solution using electrolysis. Since inception of the mine, refractory ore from the copper production process was surface stockpiled. KCM has now developed a process to extract copper from the refractory ore stockpile.

The company also produces several by-products, including sulphuric acid produced from the smelting process, which is largely consumed in the leaching process. The new Nchanga smelter also has the capability to recover cobalt from copper concentrates. The cobalt which comes in the form of a copper-cobalt alloy is sold to markets mainly in Asia. A final by-product of the refinery process is slime which is also exported.

Corporate Social Responsibility

The company operates two hospitals and eight satellite clinics. KCM also runs two schools with about 2,200 pupils. The company’s education interventions comprise providing scholarships for A-level graduates from its Konkola and Nchanga Trust Schools to study in mainly mining related fields at local and foreign universities.

KCM has one of the largest malaria roll-back programmes in Zambia. It has rolled-out several community health initiatives that include the distribution of 23,000 free eye glasses, providing artificial limbs and undertaking eye cataract operations. The company is also involved in the sponsorship of three football teams in the top Zambian soccer leagues.

KCM is committed to the development of the local communities through various income generating projects. The company has also contributed to various infrastructure development initiatives including the development of road infrastructure and construction of boreholes for local communities.

Extract from 2017 annual report

Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) reported total revenue of K8,621.47 million (US$874.3 million) for the financial
year ended 31st March 2017 (2016: K9,607.04 million (US$972.5 million). The reduction in revenue was attributed to lower metal prices through a large part of the financial year, with copper prices surging upwards in the latter quarter thereof. The net loss for the year was at K1,367.72 million (US$138.7 million) (2016: K3,685.75 million (US$373.1 million loss).

Total finished copper production during the financial year was marginally down 1.1% to 180 000 tonnes for the year ended March 2017 (2016: 182 000) compared to the previous financial year.

During the year under review, KCM production volumes were constrained due to the Nchanga Underground Mine being placed under care and maintenance on the tail end of the previous financial year and lower equipment availability across other operating units.

Extract from 2016 annual report

Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) reported total revenue of K9,607 million (US$972.5 million) for the financial year ended 31 March 2016 (2015: K7,006 million (US$1,077.1 million)). The reduction in revenue was attributed to lower metal prices. The net loss for the year was at K3,685.7 million (US$373.1 million) (2015: K1,243.6 million (US$191.3 million) loss).

Total finished copper production during the year was up 7.7% at 182 thousand tonnes for the year ending March 2016 (2015: 169 thousand).

During the year under review, KCM focused on increasing production volumes and addressing some productivity challenges that the company faced in the past. The increased production was firstly driven by a 22.5% increase at the Konkola Deep underground mine due to improved ore grade and concentrator recoveries, and the completion of the rehabilitation work on 1-Shaft. Secondly, the Tailings Leach Plant (TLP) production improved by 5.8% due to higher plant reliability and higher throughput. Lastly, finished copper production from third parties rose by 3.1% due to higher availability of third party feed.

However, there was a 25% decline at the Nchanga plant because the plant was placed under care and maintenance in the quarter ending 31 December 2015, due to low copper prices.

Moving forward, KCM’s strategy is to strive for higher operating productivity levels at the Konkola underground mine, more reliable TLP facility with potential to increase recoveries, increased usage of the smelter by processing third-party concentrates from Zambia and DRC, and improved cost cutting measures.

Subsequent to year end, ZCCM-IH fled a Claim Form with the English High Court on 6th June 2016 to recover outstanding sums in excess of US$100 million due to it from KCM, pursuant to the terms of the Settlement Agreement entered into in 2013. On 16 December 2016, ZCCM-IH was successful in its application for default judgment. KCM was ordered to pay all sums owed to ZCCM-IH pursuant to the Settlement Agreement (plus associated contractual interest) within thirty (30) days. The total amount to be paid by KCM amounted to approximately US$103 million. KCM was also ordered to reimburse ZCCM-IH 80% of the costs it had incurred in pursuing its claim.

Further directions were given to determine whether KCM made payments to Vedanta Group Companies in breach of the prohibition on doing so under the Settlement Agreement. If and to the extent it is determined that such payments were made, ZCCM-IH will be entitled to recover additional sums from KCM.

There were no dividends declared during the year under review (2015: nil).